Informal (used between people who know each other and to add a friendly touch to a business letter)

Dear Mr Brown,

Dear Mrs Brown,

Yours sincerely,

To express a little warmer feeling than “Yours sincerely”

Dear Mr Popov

Yours Very Sincerely

American form:

Gentlemen:

Yours truly,

(Yours very truly,)

THE SIGNATURE

 

Business letters are signed by hand in ink, clearly and legibly. The same style must always be adopted. The writer's name and title are typed below the signature.

 

ENCLOSURES AND POSTSCRIPTS

 

If there is an enclosure (enclosures) to the letter, it should be clearly indicated by typing the word «Enclosure» or its abbreviation «Enc».

Postscript should be used as an emergency not as normal conclusion. Otherwise it is a sign of bad construction of the letter.

EXERCISES

 

Exercise 1. Write the following dates in English:

3.1.88 22.5.90 1.9.89

1.9.91 5.8.89 12.5.95

 

Exercise 2. Find the enclosures for the following opening phrases:

Dear Sir, Messrs

Dear Mr Brown Gentlemen

Dear Dr Harris

Exercise 3. Write the address in English:

Манчестер, 15, вулиця Марпл Роуд, будинок 37, Фірма Астлей Браузерс.

 

Exercise 4. Discuss the following points before starting writing a business letter:

1. What is the difference between the English & American ways of writing the date?

2. What is the difference of writing the inside address in English & Ukrainian?

3. How do the English & the American write the opening salutation & the complimentary closing?

4. When is the phrase «for the attention of...» used?

5. What is the opening paragraph intended for?

6. What phrases can be used in the opening paragraph?

7. What is the main principle of dividing the letter into paragraphs?

8. What words are used to fit the paragraphs together smoothly?

9. What should you remember about enclosures and why?

 

SPECIMEN LETTERS (Types of letters)

According to the purpose of the letter there may be quite a number of different kinds.

Bread-and-Butter Letters

— Whenever you have spent a day or two as a guest in someone's house, you must write a letter of thanks to your hostess within a few days after the visit.

— It's good manners to write thank you for any presents or
expressions of good will.

Letters of Reference

— If you are asked to give a former employee a reference, you
may write a letter without salutation and complimentary close. Such letters should contain main facts about the person you write about and should sound enthusiastic. Don't leave out any important qualities and remember that omission implies demerit in each trait of character not mentioned.

Letters of Recommendation

— Letters of recommendation serve to draw the employer's attention to the candidate's suitability for the vacancy.

Letters of Invitation

— Invitations to important entertainment are nearly always specially engraved, so that nothing is written except the name of the person invited.

Letters of Formal Acceptance or Regret

— Formal acceptance or regrets are always written.

— Answers to informal invitations are telephoned more often than not.

— In accepting an invitation the day and hour must be repeated.
But in declining an invitation it is not necessary to repeat the hour.

Personal Business Letters

Business letters are written not only by the business employees. They are also written by others to conduct personal business.

Normally, if you know the person that you are writing to and have met him/her socially, you will want to make your letter less formal and more friendly.

PATTERNS

Here are some specimen of business letters:

a) Request Letters

The Brush Group Plc

Duke's Court

Duke Street

St. James's

LONDON S.W.I.

England

 

Dear Sir,

We are interested in the equipment produced by your company and advertised in the latest issue of «Industry».

Please send us your latest catalogues and price lists of this equipment. We would be much obliged if we could have them by return.

We are looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours faithfully,

for V/O Prommashexport

(N.Petrov)

Director

 

b) Information Letters (notifications, letters of advice, etc.) Notification letter

2ndJun, 1990

CONTRACT #57/187

Dear Sir,

We would like to notify you that our inspector Mr Pavlov will arrive in London on 17th June this Year, Aeroflot flight # 367.

We look forward to having the results of his inspection as soon as possible.

 

Yours faithfully,

V/O PROMMASHEXPORT

 

Letter of Advice = Advice Note

16th July, 1990

Dear Sir,

Your order # 1355

We are writing you to inform you that we have shipped the first grinding machine against the above Order by. Vinnitsa this morning.

Acknowledgement of receipt in good order and condition will be appreciated.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Information Letter

13th Aug, 1990

Dear Mr Brown,

I would like to tell you that a delegation from our company of three people will arrive in London in the second half of this month.

I would be grateful if you could arrange their visit to some of your factories to see the equipment we spoke about in operation.

I thank in advance for your help and cooperation.

Your sincerely,

c) Invitation Letters

There are several ways of extending an invitation to a social gathering:

1. The formal way, by means of a written invitation in the third
person, often on printed cards in whose blank spaces the name and the details of the gathering are inserted.

2. Less formal way, by an ordinary friendly leer.

3. The least formal way when an invitation is given in conversation or over the telephone.

The invitation should be sent about two or the weeks before the event.

The form of the reply is determined by the form of the invitation. RSVP (Respondez s'il vous plait = Please send your reply) is usually written on the right-hand side. But even if it is not written, courtesy dictates that a reply should be sent.

 

The Invitation Card (the formal way)

The Chairman and Director

of THE BRUSH GROUP PLC

 

request the pleasure of your company at a reception to be held at the Reception Hall,…….…at 7 p.m. on Friday, 24th April, 1990.

Evening Dress RSVP

tо the Secretary

Acceptance of the Invitation

The answers to formal invitations are written in the third person, without the opening salutation, the complimentary closing or signature:

Mr Ivan Pavlov thanks the Chairman and Directors of the Brush Group Plc for their kind invitation to a Reception to be held at the Reception Hall,………….at 7 p.m. on Friday, 24th Ail, 1990, which he

has much pleasure in accepting.

 

Refusing the Invitation

Mr Ivan Pavlov thanks the Chairman and Directors of the Brush Group Plc for their kind invitation to a Reception to be held at the Reception Hall, ………….. at 7 p.m. on Friday, 24th April, 1990, but

regrets that he is unable to accept owing to a previous engagement on that evening.

 

An Invitation Letter (less formal)

Dear Mr I. Pavlov,

It would give us great pleasure if you and your wife could join us for dinner on Saturday,

the 23rd August, at seven o'clock.
Yours sincerely,

Anthony Brown

 

Accepting the Invitation

10^th Aug, 1990

Dear Mr Anthony Brown,

Thank you very much for your invitation to dinner on Saturday, the 23rd August. Both my wife and I will be delighted to come (or We are pleased to accept). Yours sincerely, I. Pavlov

 

Refusing the Invitation

10th Aug, 1990

Dear Mr Anthony Brown,

Thank you very much for your invitation to dinner on Saturday, the 23rd August, but I very much regret that we are unable to accept your invitation owing to a previous engagement.

Yours sincerely,

I.Pavlov

Useful Phrases

We are delighted to accept... Ми з задоволенням приймаємо …

We look forward to joining you... Ми з нетерпінням чекаємо на зустріч з Вами …

We are sincerely happy to join you.. Ми щиро раді зустрічі з Вами…

We are pleased to accept... Ми з задоволенням приймаємо…

Unfortunately it will be impossible for us to... На жаль, неможливо буде, щоб…

I am sincerely sorry that we Ми дійсно жалкуємо, що не можемо

cannot join you for... приєднатися до Вас, щоб...

We regret we cannot accept... На жаль, ми не можемо прийняти...

Very regretfully we find that we cannot... На великий жаль, ми дізналися, що не можемо...

Please accept my sincere regrets Просимо прийняти повідомлення, що я дуже жалкую

at not being able to join you for… про неможливість зустрітися з Вами

d) Congratulation Letters

If you want your letter of congratulation to be success, you should write it as soon as you hear the good news. There are a lot of reasons for writing congratulation letters: business promotion, an important company anniversary, business policy changes, achievements in advertising, servicing or creating new products, etc.

There is no hard-and-fast rule about acknowledging letters of congratulations, but if you do that, you will show your good upbringing. In writing this kind of letter, you should always mention the occasion that prompts it.

Note: Only the man receives «congratulations» on his engagement. The woman receives «best wishes».

 

21st Jun, 1990

Dear Mr N. Brown,

I have just read of your promotion to sales manager. Let me offer my warmest congratulations.

I don't have to tell you that all of us here wish you the best of luck in your new position.

We are sure we will be reading more good news about you in the trade papers in the future.

Yours sincerely,

F. Popov

25th Nov, 1990

Dear Mr. Sedov,

Thank you very much for the lovely note of congratulations on my promotion. It was good of you to send it.

I sincerely appreciate all the good wishes of your colleagues. Yours sincerely, N. Brown

 

Useful Phrases

We congratulate you on... Вітаємо Вас з.

Congratulations on... Наші вітання з...

Warm (sincere) congratulations, Наші щирі вітання з..., побажання успіхів і щастя...

good luck and best wishes...

Please accept our heartiest Просимо Вас прийняти наші вітання від щирого серця з..

congratulations on...

Permit me to congratulate you on... Дозвольте мені привітати Вас з..

I was delighted to learn... Я із задоволенням довідався

It was with great pleasure that З великим задоволенням ми довідались, що Вас призначили

we learned of your appointment... (про Ваше призначення...)

May we congratulate you on your promotion Дозвольте привітати Вас із службовим підвищенням...

We were delighted to read in the trade journal Ми із задоволенням прочитали в торговельному

that you had been promoted and... журналі, що Ви отримали службове підвищення

We want to send you our sincere good wishes and... Ми хочемо надіслати Вам наші щирі

побажання найкращого...

Your note of congratulation is deeply appreciated Щиро дякуємо за Ваш лист- привітання

Your message of good wishes gave me a great deal Я отримав велике задоволення від Вашого

of pleasure листа з найкращими побажаннями

It was good (fine, nice, kind, wonderful, З Вашого боку було дуже

thoughtful) of you to write to me as you did люб'язно (передбачливо)написати мені.

 

e) Letters of Gratitude. A letter of thanks for hospitality should be written within two or three days of your return home, when it is still fresh in your mind.

22nd May, 1990

Dear Mr Brown,

Back now home I would like to thank you most warmly for your hospitality extended to me.

I very much appreciated your kindness in showing me round your works.

I had a most pleasant and interesting trip and hope to be of similar assistance to you if you come to Kyiv. I thank you very much again.

We look forward to further cooperation.

Yours sincerely,

 

Useful Phrases

To afford (render) hospitality (assistance) Проявляти гостинність, надавати допомогу

We thank you for the samples of your products З подякою підтверджуємо отримання зразків Ваших виробів

Thank you ever so much (mostsincerely, Велика подяка (найщиріше дякую Вам)...

very much indeed)... Дякую Вам за...

I am most grateful to you for... Дякую Вам за...

I regret very much that I did not have a chance Я дуже шкодую, що не мав можливості особисто

to thank you personally for... подякувати Вам за...

This is to thank you again for your wonderful Пишу, щоб ще раз подякувати Вам за чудову

hospitality and to tell you how much I enjoyed... гостинність і сказати, яке велике задоволення я отримав...

Thank you for one of the most enjoyable visits Дякую Вам за один з найчудовіших візитів

we have had to your country… до Вашої країни...

Thank you for doing so much to make our trip Дякую Вам за те, що Ви зробили нашу

to London interesting and fruitful подорож до Лондона такою цікавою та корисною

Thank you for contributing so much to make Дякуємо Вам за все те, що Ви зробили, щоб наше

our stay in your country pleasant and resultful перебування в Вашій країні було таким приємним і результативним

I am very grateful to you for Я дуже вдячний Вам за Вашу

your generous hospitality щиру гостинність.

I hope some day you will find yourself in our Сподіваюсь, що коли-небудь Ви будете в нашій

so that we can reciprocate your kindness країні, і я зможу відплатити Вам за Вашу щирість

country (доброту).

 

F) Letters of Apology

There are occasions when you should apologize for a mistake, error or oversight. Do it promptly with an explanation but without any lame excuses. Express your regrets and assurances that it will not happen again.

2nd July, 1990

Dear Sir,

ORDER # 389

We write to inform you about a delay in shipment of any goods from the London port because of strike of transport workers. Your goods are actually in London, and we are trying to get them to the Docks so that they can be loaded on the next vessel sailing on the 7th July.

We apologize for this unfortunate delay and are doing our best to get your order away.

Yours faithfully,

31st May, 1990

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your cable of 28th May this year, reminding us about our promise to send you some technical information about our new model.

Please accept our apologies for the delay, but we could not do anything earlier because of pressure of work at this time of the year.

We are sending you now the technical information required and hope that we shall establish good trade relations with you.

Yours faithfully,

Useful Phrases

We are extremely (very) sorry that... Ми дуже шкодуємо, що …

І hope you will accept my sincere apologies... Я сподіваюсь, що Ви приймете моє щире вибачення...

We certainly owe you an apology for... Ми неодмінно повинні вибачитись перед Вами...

І wish to apologize for... Я хочу вибачитись за...

 

G) Covering Letters

They are written when sending contracts, specifications, catalogues, samples of goods or information material.

3rdJun,1990

Dear Sir,

At your request we are sending you, under separate cover, our latest illustrated catalogue and some other technical data about our new model of Harvester H-130.

We hope that you will find our machine useful and reliable and place an order with us.

Yours faithfully,

 

23rd Nov, 1990

Dear Sir,

CONTRACT #60-0711

In reply to your telex dated 19th Nov this year we are sending you with this letter two original copies of above Contract for signature.

Please send us one copy duly signed by return.

Enc: 2 copies of the Contract (14 pages).

Yours faithfully,

 

Useful Phrases

 

We are sending you in today's mail... Надсилаємо (висилаємо, направляємо) Вам із сьогоднішньою поштою...

We are glad to send you by parcel post... З задоволенням надсилаємо (виси­лаємо, направляємо)

Вам поштовою посилкою...

We are pleased to send Ми раді надіслати (направити, пе­редати) Вам

you separately... окремим пакетом...

Further to our letter we are Як доповнення до нашого

sending you... листа надсилаємо (висилаємо, направля­ємо) Вам...

We are glad to send you a list З задоволенням надсилаємо (виси­лаємо, направляємо)

of Ukrainian organizations Вам перелік українських організацій, що торгу­ють

dealing in... as requested... відповідно до Вашого прохання

At your request we are У відповідності з Вашим проханням

pleased to send you... з задоволенням надсилаємо Вам...

 

H) Letters of Confirmation

There are two cases:

When you need to acknowledge receipt of a document (a letter, a telex, an offer or a contract, etc.), you just write: «We have received your letter of the 2nd of July...»

When you need to confirm the previous agreement (arrangement) made on the telephone, by telegram, by telex or by word of mouth, concerning the price, the terms of payment or delivery, the date of the talks, etc., then you write: «We are writing to confirm our today's telephone conversation about price...»

20th July, 1990

Dear Sir,

We thank you for your telex informing us that you have signed Contract # 60-775 and are sending one copy back to us by today's post.

We are pleased that we have established business relations with you and assure you that you will have our full co-operation.

Yours faithfully,

 

21st Jan, 1990

Dear Sir,

We confirm our agreement reached by telephone today about the change in the terms of payment, which will be made by a Letter of Credit to be valid for 45 days. The Letter of Credit will be irrevocable and confirmed.

We hope that our co-operation will be the mutual benefit of the companies.

Yours faithfully,

 

Useful Phrases

We thank you for your telex - З подякою підтверджуємо

informing us that... отримання Вашого телексу з повідом­ленням, що...

We have received your Підтверджуємо отримання

Order # 3267 and started to... Вашого замовлення № 3267 і повідомляємо, що почали...

In confirmation of our telephone На підтвердження нашої

conversation this morning we... телефонної розмови сьогодні зранку ми...

 

I) Enquiry Letters

An enquiry usually states the name of the goods and terms and conditions on which the Buyer would like to have the goods, such as: the quantity and quality of the goods, the model (trade mark), the price, terms of delivery and terms of payment.

 

27th May, 1990

Dear Sir, We are interested in the new model of harvester advertised by you in the current number of the Industry and we are considering ordering 3 machines on trial. We need harvesters in a month's time. The advertisement, however, does not give sufficient information about the delivery time and otherwise.

Therefore we should appreciate further details as soon as possible. We hope to establish business relations with your company and are looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours faithfully,

Useful Phrases

We are interested in... and would ask you Ми зацікавлені в... і просили б Вас

to send us your offer (tender, quotation) вислати нам Ваші пропозиції (заявку)

for these goods (for this machine, на цей товар (на цю машину, на це обладнання)

for this equipment)

We require... Нам потрібно (потрібні)...

We are regular buyers of... Ми постійні покупці....

We are in the market for... Ми хочемо купити....

Please send us samples of Просимо Вас надіслати нам

your goods stating your lowest зразки Вашого товару,

prices and best terms of payment вказати най­нижчі ціни і зручні умови оплати

Please let us know if you can send us your Просимо Вас повідомити, чи зможете Ви

quotation for.... (if you can offer us...) запропонувати нам...

Please inform us by return at what price, on what Просимо Вас повідомити зворотною поштою,

terms and when you could deliver... за якою ціною, на яких умовах і в який

термін Ви могли б поставити...

We are interested in... advertised by you in... Ми зацікавлені в... розрекламованій Вами...

We have seen your machine Ми бачили Вашу машину

Model 5 at the exhibition and... моделі 5 на виставці та...

We have read your Advertisement in … Ми прочитали Ваше рекламне оголошення в...

We have received your address from... Ми отримали Вашу адресу від…

We have learnt from.... that you are exporters of... Ми дізнались від..., що Ви є експортерами…

 

j) Letters-Offers (Replies to Enquiries)

It is impolite to leave the letter (or the telex) unanswered even if at the moment you are not ready to give a definite reply. You should send an intermediate answer (letter, telex), thanking for the letter (telex) received and stating that as soon as the matter is cleared, a detailed reply will be sent.

A reply to an enquiry (if the Seller cannot send an offer immediately) states reasons why the Seller cannot send an offer at once and what is being done meanwhile. It also states alterations as to the quantity of the goods, their model (trade mark), delivery dates, etc., if any.

If the Seller can meet the requirements of the Buyer, he sends an offer stating the name of the goods offered, their quantity and quality, the price, the delivery time or date, the terms of payment, the marking and packing instructions and other conditions.

 

5th Jun, 1990

Dear Sir,

Abt: Your Enquiry of the 27th May

We thank you for your enquiry for our new model of Harvester and enclose with this letter our latest leaflet for details.

But unfortunately, the delivery date you asked for is rather short, and we hope you can extend it, say by another month. In that case we are ready to make you an offer.

Your early reply on the matter will be appreciated.

Yours faithfully,

Enc: 1 leaflet

8^th July, 1990

Mr. Brown,

African Food Co.Ltd,

Ghana

Dear Sir,

Enquiry for Wheat

We have just received your Enquiry of 3rd July this year for which we thank you and offer now for 5,000 tons of Wheat, Sample 425. We could offer you 5,000 tons of Wheat whose quality corresponds to that of Sample #350.

Our prices and terms of delivery as well as terms of payment are given in a booklet enclosed with the letter.

We hope that our terms will meet your requirements, and if Sample # 350 is of interest for you, we ask you to send us your formal order immediately.

Yours faithfully,

Enc: 2 pages